International Commission of Jurists
European Sections
Roundup of activity – Second Half 2011
International Commission of Jurists
Europe Programme, activities April – December 2011
Migration
The ICJ Practitioners’ Guide on Migration and International Human Rights Law was published in April. The guide analyses international human rights law applicable to key aspects of migration, and is designed to support national lawyers and NGOs in using international human rights law effectively in national legal and political systems. The Guide has been distributed widely to individuals and organisations in Europe and beyond. It has received a very positive response from NGOs, IGOs and lawyers active in the field.
Following the publication of the Guide, a launch seminar was held in Brussels on 18 April, which brought together lawyers from six EU states, as well as NGOs active at an EU level, to discuss the crisis in the EU asylum system following the judgment of the European Court in MSS v Belgium and Greece. A report of the seminar was circulated.
At the September Human Rights Council, the ICJ organised, in co-operation with FIDH and Human Rights Watch, a side-event, Migration and the Arab Spring, addressing human rights concerns in migration from and within North Africa following the 2011 revolutions there.
In September, the ICJ undertook a mission to Malta, responding to concerns about protection of human rights of migrants and asylum seekers there. The mission included visits to closed detention centres and open reception centres, meetings with lawyers, NGOs, government and others. The ICJ also delivered three training seminars on human rights and migration for Maltese NGOs, organised jointly with the Maltese NGO Aditus and UNHCR.
Also in September, the ICJ published two Briefing Papers on the proposed recasts of EU Directives: the Asylum Procedures Directive and the Reception Conditions Directive, with detailed recommendations for amendment.
In October, the ICJ participated in a FRA seminar to plan for FRONTEX training in human rights. In November, the ICJ participated in a conference organised in Trieste by the Italian Association for Legal Studies on Migration about human rights and migration.
In October, the ICJ made written submissions for the Periodic Review of Greece by the Committee against Torture, addressing issues related to the asylum process and non-refoulement, and conditions of detention and living conditions for migrants.